Books I've Read This Week (July 7)

Yes, I've dated this BIRTW as the 7th even though I'm writing it Saturday morning while watching the Tour (Lang still leading at 1:02:47 in the ITT). It was just too late after I got done reading last night. After quite a long list last week, I only have a few books this time.

I finished Moving is Murder by Sara Rosett. As I suspected last week, it remained rather boring and unbelievable to the end. Even the culprit was uninteresting and pathetic. Please don't waste your time.

Next was His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik. I had read about this book on a blog I next-blogged into one night. The description of dragons combined with Napoleonic-era British Navy themes was just too interesting to ignore. I reserved it immediately and I am now so happy I did. I loved this book.

Englishman Will Laurence is a mild-mannered captain in His Majesty's Navy when he captures a French man 0' war with an unusual and valuable cargo: a dragon egg. It was already hard and only a few days from hatching so someone on board would have to harness the dragon or it would go feral and its value would be lost. Laurence is relieved when someone else pulls the short straw but the new dragon has other plans and chooses the captain when he speaks to Laurence first. Laurence offers him the name of Temeraire which the dragon accepts. Laurence realizes his life as he knows it is over as the riders in the Aerial Corps live far separate from his now-former cultured life as the son of a gentleman.

So it's on to Scotland and then to the Channel where Laurence and Temeraire (and we readers) learn what it means to be a rider and dragon together in the war against France. I won't reveal more details because part of the fun is learning along with the two boys. There are some good other characters as well; my favorite is one of the young cadets at the Loch Laggan Covert. A nice thing is the author has written two more books in the series that are out already and has more in the works. I can't wait to get Throne of Jade and Black Powder War. You Pern fans out there must check out these books.

Next was a piece of paranormal fluff by Katie MacAlister, Even Vampires Get The Blues. It was fun but nothing special.

I was going to read Don of the Dead by Casey Daniels next as I was feeling paranormal, but I couldn't renew a couple Link+ books that are due today so I started One Grave Too Many by Beverly Connor instead. I wasn't sure about this one at the beginning but I gave it a chance and gradually warmed to the story and the characters as more and more details were revealed.

Diane Fallon, a forensic anthropologist, is the new director at a natural history museum near Atlanta. She was burned out from excavating one mass grave after another in South America so had taken this job in the interest of having a quieter life. She knew she shouldn't but she couldn't say no when a friend asked her to analyze a human bone. A mess of bones, assaults and insults later, the identity of the victim was discovered, the story told, and the murdered caught, all while deflecting a mutiny by her Board of Directors at the museum (and playing a drawn-out and often remote game of chess with her new curator of archeology).

I enjoyed the mystery and science in this book, but I think I enjoyed the interplay of the characters in the museum even more. And Diane has the knack of being able to say to those who challenge her exactly what you would hope she would (see her conversation with the self-serving mayor). After a slow start, she became a well-drawn, sympathetic character with lots of depth and history. I look forward to reading more Diane Fallon forensic investigations (and other books) by Beverly Connor.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to Site Unseen by Dana Cameron, an archeology mystery, and it has to go back today. I'll have to keep it on my Books to Reserve list and actually read it next time!

Unread books on my shelf at home:
Sleep, Pale Sister, Joanne Harris
The Fan, Peter Abrahams
The Memory of Whiteness, Kim Stanley Robinson
Predator, Patricia Cornwell
Gone, Jonathan Kellerman
Miss Zukas & the Island Murders, Jo Dereske
Don of the Dead, Casey Daniels
If You Could See Me Now, Cecelia Ahern

Books on hold at the library:
Virgin Earth, Philippa Gregory (due 7/18)
Micah, Laurell K. Hamilton (ready for pickup!)
Darcy & Elizabeth, Linda Berdoll (1 of 8 holds)
Danse Macabre, Laurell K. Hamilton (3 of 21 holds)
The Art of Detection, Laurie R. King (5 of 13 holds)
Dark Tort, Diane Mott Davidson (29 of 29 holds)
Miss Zukas & the Library Murders, Jo Dereske (ready for pickup)
Magic or Madness, Justine Larbalestier (in transit)
Throne of Jade, Naomi Novik (in transit)
Black Powder War, Naomi Novik (in transit)

So it looks like it'll be a good week for reading at my house this next week. I'll let you know how it goes next time on Books I've Read This Week. Happy reading!